Mike Santoro knew a year ago that he had a good chance of being drafted.

Despite sitting out all but three games in the 2004 season due to a stress fracture in his right foot, Santoro was picked as a “draft and follow” by the San Francisco Giants.

The deal gave the Giants the first opportunity to ink Santoro shortly before this year’s Major League Baseball amateur draft.

“It’s such an awesome feeling,” said Santoro in a press release. “I’ve already got a place to go play and I don’t have to wait until next week. Now that I am there, it’s all about hard work and doing your job. I am an employee of the San Francisco Giants and I will go to work everyday trying to help that organization.”

This season, Santoro was NIU’s leading run producer with 47 RBIs to add to a .302 batting average – second on the team to Jeremy Busch’s .340.

Most of Santoro’s 2005 numbers were similar to 2003, with the exception of his home run count. This season, he hit 6 home runs, compared to his team-leading 15 in 2003.

“Mike’s a good player and a main cog of this team,” NIU coach Ed Mathey said. “This year, his numbers weren’t there, but that’s because teams were not going to let him beat them.”

Santoro’s main focus for the season was to return to full health; otherwise, signing might not have been a possibility.

Santoro health improvement was shown by his increased performance at the plate toward the end of the season.

The River Forest native hit .319 with 10 doubles, 19 runs scored and 26 RBI over his final 31 starts.

“I swung the bat much more effectively during the second half of the year and that gives me a lot of confidence heading into pro ball,” he said.

Santoro is the sixth Huskie in Mathey’s three-year tenure to be drafted by a MLB team. He left for Scottsdale, Ariz. for evaluation Thursday.